User Research: An Essential Foundation of a Product Strategy
by Kanwaldeep ‘KD’ Singh Arneja
Ultimately, any product strategy is the sum of all things that make up an executable and prioritized roadmap. We know that milestones in the roadmap are achievable deliverables. We also understand that the nature of these concrete deliverables is a measurable increment (if we do it right) of a value-add to the customers or users in terms of software, tangibles, or a service. And what needed to be delivered is all about well defined "requirements." Regardless of various processes and methods through which we may have established requirements, the result will touch someone's day-in-a-life-of. That someone is a king persona, a business user, a power user, or a direct consumer, etc. But net-net, it is primarily a user. And a clear understanding of the root problem, pains, goals, impediments, and tasks of that user is critical to getting the requirements right the first time around. User Research (UXR) is what helps us understand this clarity and arms us with insights into customer and user needs.
Also, how often do we see ourselves collecting requirements without any influence of external and internal biases? How do we even know if the customers and users are giving us the right information? Or if we are asking the right questions? We may end up with validated assumptions and hypotheses that hold water, but do we know if we even ascertained them objectively in the first place? God forbid if we are just going by gut-checks, consensus in house echo chamber or "trust me, I am an experienced SME" culture.
A winning product strategy is based on a solid foundation of what the product/service is all about, how it will be used, and what value it will bring to a set of users such that the value add is entrenched in their daily life. Let's look at it in an even more straightforward way. There are three main questions around building any product:
Unless we miss the "Order" and "How" colossally, there still may be some wiggle room to fix and go in a different direction. But the "Who" is all about the fit, the problem we are trying to solve, the market, the actual users who will adopt our final output. If we miss getting the "Who" right, the other two questions become irrelevant. And by the time we realize we have to fix it, it is usually too late. We may miss the time to market, loose stakeholder and investor money, and our credibility along with it.
The "Who" is where UXR comes in. UXR is the quintessential tool that we must use to offset this risk. Conducting proper user research and extracting insights that will assist product management, are indispensable activities. Of course, additional data from market research, insights from collate customer feedback and objective SMEs and thought leaders can complement it.
Market research often (and lazily) gets substituted for UXR. That is a mistake we keep making. Even if the market research reveals that there is a clear opportunity in the market, we still have to make sure that the intended solution is something that users in that market will like, buy, love, and keep using. Hence, if we want to build the "right stuff for the right people," we must do research. Because if we don't, we will not set ourselves up for success. There are way too many instances of rushed products and missed-the-mark situations to serve as cautionary tales.
So what does UXR buy us? It helps us attain mainly one thing: actionable insights that we can use to define and maneuver product strategy. The basis of these insights are:
Quantitative and Qualitative data which helps us with the what and why
Informed decision-making power which is better than gut-checks or wild guesses
Product aspects we didn't initially account for that may help us avoid risks or latch on to a new opportunity previously unthought-of
Conception or Pre Launch
Here we try to ascertain if we are trying to solve the problem worth solving and the right solution, which will work for users. Research activities that make the most sense here are:
Test assumptions and hypotheses; these will be studies using focus panel groups, surveys or cohorts
Tons of user interviews; recruitment for users is critical here
Moderated and un-moderated design reviews of clickable prototypes, code or mock based, or both
Post Launch
In this stage, we have delivered a Minimum viable Product (MVP), and we measurable traction with target users in terms of positive user engagement and adoption. Following activities make the most sense now:
User tests and design reviews on risker substantive new features
Iterative research studies with moderated or unmoderated user testing on already delivered features so that we are continuously improving experience and refining user needs
Learning from analytics and metrics to iterate and move, add or enhance features
Testing new features with a small number of users per persona in phases to gauge various aspects of user experience (i.e., usability, findability, content, etc.)
It may seem like the effort needs a dedicated research team. Well, the size and makeup of the team will depend on your business and how critical it is for you to get the product right. But flying blind is very risky and can prove costly. So if you can't afford a full-time researcher on the team, hire a consultant or an agency or gain skills to become a research oriented Product Manager. But do it right. It's an investment that will pay off. If the UXR checks you from going down the wrong path early on, the investment would have paid off.
If you want to learn more about UXR in general, here is a vast curated collection of resources.
About the author:
Kanwaldeep ‘KD’ Singh Arneja has been in the hi-tech industry since 2003. KD has built delightful products that have been the culmination of Agile Product Management and Design Thinking. KD regularly presents in Agile New England, local UXPA chapters and Customer Experience conferences. He is also a CSPO and CSP.
KD is currently the Director of User Experience and Product Manager at HealthEdge, a Burlington, MA-based health care IT company where he has been executing a UX strategy in Healthcare Payor and Clinical Solutions domain. Prior to HealthEdge, KD has held UX Architect and UI Engineer roles with various startups and large companies.